Six water meters were stolen across Craigieburn last Thursday night temporarily affecting the water supply for a primary school, childcare centre, sports clubs and a major shopping centre.
Thieves stole the meters from Craigieburn West YMCA, Aitken Creek Primary School, Craigieburn Shopping Centre, Hume Tennis and Community Centre and DS Aitken Reserve overnight.
Craigieburn West YMCA Children’s Service’s manager Lisa Funston said the disruption to running water forced the centre to close on Friday.
All three of the Waterview Boulevard centre’s water meters were stolen, leaving it without access to running water until about 3pm the following day.
Ms Funston said she made the call to alert parents that the centre would not be accepting children on the Friday at about 7.15am.
“For children nought to five, you can’t really tell them to hold on,” she said.
Despite the inconvenience, Craigieburn Cricket Club managed to feed about 40 members at a weekly dinner last Thursday night.
Aitken Creek Primary School Principal Peter Katsikapis said the school was without water for about one-and-a-half hours on Friday morning before Yarra Valley Water was able to reconnect it.
He described the theft as petty, “Particularly when so many kids are affected”.
Yarra Valley Water (YVW) managing director Pat McCafferty said that spate of selfish thefts had hit the heart of the local community.
“These thieves have caused significant community disruption for the sake of less than $200, which is the value the thieves may get at scrap.
“Replacing stolen meters in our service area costs in excess of $80,000 each year, a cost that is worn by the community.”
He said YVW was in the process of replacing its brass meters with steel to significantly reduce the resale value to deter further thefts.
If a person is caught and prosecuted for stealing a water meter to sell as scrap metal they face up to 15 years in prison.
Mr McCafferty said each stolen water meter costs $1200 to replace.
He urged the public report suspicious behaviour, or if they know any details about the latest thefts, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
